Weight Up & Have A Good Weekend - Angie's Peace Corps (Namibia) Adventure

Feb. 24th, 2006

02:48 pm - Weight Up & Have A Good Weekend

As I mentioned earlier, I have lost probably between 10-15 pounds since I have been in Namibia. Now before anyone gets worried- it’s not because I don’t eat. To be honest, I’m actually right around my regular weight now (minus just a few pounds), the number I had been stable at for a couple years. In the last year and a half I seemed to have some serious munchies attacks & so I was no longer at my steady number. So really, I’m just back to regular now. As I was saying, it’s not because I don’t get any food here. It’s because I sweat like a horse at all times, and particularly because of all the walking we do here. My body is not used to that- at home I drove everywhere. Everywhere. Even if it was just go across the street, I’d hop into my little car & drive. Here it’s totally the opposite. I walk everywhere, and believe you me… it’s an awful lot of walking. That is most definitely the biggest explanation for my weight loss. I’ve even got a nice calf developing (no, not a cow. The muscle on your leg.). And I say calf, because for some reason only the left one seems to be coming along nicely. The right calf is practically non-existent. It makes no sense. I think my body was probably initially shocked from all this new exercise I was putting in but it seems to have handled it just fine. Additionally, you couple all this new exercise with extreme sweating and the occasional stress that comes with being in a completely new situation, in a foreign land…and you’re gonna get some weight loss. Thing is, as Dave would say, “my pants is falling”. (that’s Dave Matthews. If you don’t know by now I just call him Dave because in my mind, he’s my friend.) The pants/shorts/jeans I had been wearing over the last year or two are a bit big on me now. I am onto the last buckle on my belt.

But don’t you worry, I have realized this week that those few extra pounds that I had lost are gonna come back at me with a quickness. Ever since moving out of my family’s house & into Sandra & Dylan’s abode, I find myself eating all sorts of delicious delights. Chocolate pudding, cookies, peanut butter cups… you get the picture. I try to balance it out with eating a small/ light dinner, so that I don’t end up going to the other extreme. What’s really strange about all this is that I’m not the type of girl who really pays attention to her weight or what she eats (I am after all having all those goodies I just mentioned). It’s simply on my mind now because I lost a lot of weight rather quickly & I’m pretty happy with where I am right now, but I think it can easily come back now that I’m around all these sweets. It’s what happens when you’ve been kept away from the kitchen, when for the last 3 months you’ve been dying to get into your own kitchen to start experimenting & doing your own thing. You go wild. And really the reason I’m mentioning all of this is because the Peace Corps norm is that females tend to gain weight during their first few months of service, while males tend to lose weight. So far I’ve proved that to be completely the opposite (without even trying) and it would suck for them to be right because I’m happy with where I am right now.

That’s all I’ve got to say about that for now. It’s weird to be talking about weight. I am not a girl who pays much attention to that, I just eat what I want really. LoL! I just don’t want to be going from one extreme to another again. I love my chocolate, and when I get out of here I’m gonna go have me what’s left of that chocolate pudding! :) The novelty of having the ability to have all these treats will wear off soon. We’re just finishing week one.

Welp, my time is running short. I hope you, the reader, have a great weekend. DylSan (As I will refer to them from now on) found us a ride out of here with one of the teachers at their school so that’s great. We don’t have to hitch, we got ourselves a ride! Hitching here is fun though! We’re leaving at 5, so I’m going to go home and cook some lunch with them. I hope I will continue to be able to pop in here often next week. This is the end of my host dad being away so Monday I will have to give him back the keys : ( That blows. I’m hoping it’ll be okay, he’s nice. I might not be able to pop in every day but as long as I can pop in atleast once or twice a week, I’ll be happy. Hope you all have a good weekend, I’ll tell you all about mine when I get back. As a good friend recently said, keep smiling, keep laughing, keep learning, and keep living. (thanks Grizz). Oh, and have a good time while you’re at it.